Cordia's Review of S1E17 - The Breakup, Part II

The Breakup, Part II

Season 1, Episode 17

Original airing: March 15, 2001

My Rating: 66

The Good:

I think this was a great way to deal with the emotions of the breakup. Rory’s feminist stance on refusing to wallow felt spot on and having her break down during the kiss with Tristan was very believable. I also found it believable that the kiss happened. Tristan is being very self-effacing in that scene and I think Rory would be drawn to his honest side.

It was uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time to see Lorelai’s relationship with Max rekindling. It’s hard to see how they could possibly work out their issues. I like that they list them out and acknowledge nothing has changed, including their feelings for each other.

I adored the scenes with Lane and Henry. It’s a great little twist to introduce the kind of guy Mrs. Kim would highly approve of and have him sweep Lane off her feet. Lane’s reactions were entertaining and in character and I can’t wait to see more of this relationship develop.

The Bad:

The fight in the street between Luke and Dean felt very scripted. Dean is smart enough to walk away if Luke is blocking his path. He’s also smart enough to guess that Rory might be inside. He also seems smart enough to just avoid Luke’s diner all together. He knows it’s a major hang out for the girls and I should think he wants to avoid seeing Rory as much as she wants to avoid seeing him.

While I liked the kiss with Rory and Tristan, I was not a fan of how it came about. It was very out of character to see Tristan dragged around by the nose and humiliated in front of many of his classmates. The strutting rooster we’ve seen in prior episodes would never have let any of that happen in public.

Favorite Moment:

I really loved the short bit with Sookie and Jackson. They are an incredibly entertaining pair and their “fight” over Jackson cooking dinner was adorable.

The Bottom Line:

I like that the show took an entire episode to deal with Rory’s denial. The Dean and Rory relationship has been a large part of the show and their break up needed to be handled with proper gravity. Lane and Sookie provided a perfect amount of lightheartedness to keep this episode from being a major emotional bummer.

P.S. - This guy almost won Favorite Moment for his dancing.